Philadelphia Restaurant Week: Chef Walter Staib in middle of the action for the Center City District

With the holidays now safely behind us, the restaurant festival season begins in earnest. Over the next few weeks, almost like a collective breath of fresh air after surviving the frantic joy of holiday madness, a number of dining events — from regional restaurant extravaganzas, to classy benefits like the Kelly Anne Dolan Memorial Fund’s annual Wine in Winter at Normandy Farm, to spectacular Chinese New Year menus — will grace readers’ social calendars.

And with uncharacteristically springlike weather to encourage people to venture outside their cocoons, the time couldn’t be riper for a dining adventure.

Like the current edition of Ambler Restaurant Week, Center City District Restaurant Week (the inspiration for its more modest Ambler counterpart) offers foodies of every stripe the opportunity to enjoy incredible bargains in dining.

Beginning Jan. 27 through Feb. 1 — dozens of major Center City restaurants are presenting three-course lunches for $20 and three-course dinner for $35. No matter what the state of the economy might be, these are bargains that are hard to pass up — even though these prices do not include tax, alcohol and gratuity.

Many of these restaurants are also offering the $20 three-course lunch. Please contact each restaurant individually for details. When you do, you can make reservations directly or do so online at www.centercityphila.org.

Bryn Mawr’s affable Walter Staib, City Tavern’s longtime chef-owner, has been active in this annual affair for many years and will do so again in 2013.

Philadelphia’s Culinary Ambassador is the author of several cookbooks (including “City Tavern: Recipes from the Birthplace of American Cuisine”), has won three Emmy Awards for his acclaimed “A Taste of History” PBS program (soon to begin its sixth season), and continues to offer thoroughly researched and totally delectable menus from the Colonial period at his meticulously refurbished City Tavern, the restaurant where the heroes of the Revolution — including Washington, Jefferson, Franklin and John Adams — would gather to brainstorm during the heated days preceding and following America’s Declaration of Independence.

About Center City District Restaurant Week, the popular chef said, in an interview, “This week, everybody gets credit card bills from the holidays. That’s what this event is all about. It’s great marketing. People might not know about all the great restaurants offering such great bargains.

“I’ve been involved with it from its inception,” he continued. “It’s a great time to show off your restaurant. In this economy, people come out to dinner less frequently, but at these prices, it’s hard to resist.

“With City Tavern, we will have all the dishes on our special menu on hand. No one will be disappointed. And we take care of our vegetarian customers too, with one of our recent menu items — Fried Tofu, which is selling like crazy.”

Chef Staib then proceeded to explain how such an unusual dish began to appear on his menu.

“Benjamin Franklin wrote in a 1770 letter to John Bartram, of Bartram’s Garden fame, how to make tofu. So we added it to our menu.

The dish will be one of the entrées guests can choose when they drop in on City Tavern during restaurant week.

But first, the appetizers. Guests will be offered the following choices: Russian Eggs served with vegetable salad and caviar garni; Black Forest Shrimp Cocktail served with European cocktail sauce and radicchio cup; Smoked Salmon Frittata, smoked salmon rosettes served with angel hair frittata; or Onion Soup served with Gruyere crouton.

Besides Fried Tofu, the entrées will include Veal & Herb Sausage “Muncher Style,” handmade veal and herb sausage, served with fried onions, mashed potatoes and Pennsylvania Dutch style sauerkraut; Chicken Breast a la Franklin, breaded chicken breast and asparagus, served with sauce béarnaise, mashed potatoes and vegetable of the season; Wiener Schnitzel, pan-fried breaded veal cutlets, served with pommes frites and vegetable of the season; Shrimp. Mussels & Jersey Clams, served with herbed egg noodles and fresh Jersey tomatoes in a basil white wine garlic sauce; and Braised New York Strip Steak marinated in Thomas Jefferson ale, pan-seared and simmered and served with Kennett Square mushrooms in a Dijon mustard and onion sauce with mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables.

The dessert course will feature a selection from City Tavern’s celebrated dessert tray.

Seasonal libations will also be available during restaurant week, including the old English spiced drink wassail ($8.50); City Tavern Warmer ($9.75), a heady concoction of Jamaican rum, French brandy, English whiskey and American hot apple cider; Winter Kiss ($10.50), a blend of egg nog and Chambord; and several “Ales of the Revolution,” including General Washington’s Tavern Porter, Thomas Jefferson’s 1774 Tavern Ale, and Poor Richard’s Tavern Spruce (each $7.75).

In addition to dining bargains, Center City Restaurant Week, which is presented by TD Bank, also offers what an official brochure calls “52 more culinary adventures” — or, an opportunity to win dinner once a week for an entire year at select Center City restaurants. To enter, as well as check out participating restaurants, those that offer the same menu on Saturday, Jan. 26, and more, simply visit www.centercityphila.org/restaurant week.